RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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0 Share Newsweek is a Trust Project member See more of our trusted coverage when you search. Prefer Newsweek on Google to see more of our trusted coverage when you search. Social Security payments will be made this week to millions of recipients up and down the United States.
Tens of millions of Americans collect Social Security benefits , which for many makes up the bedrock of later life income. Payments are made on a monthly basis and are paid out by the Social Security Administration (SSA).
But not every beneficiary gets their money on the same day, with a staggered schedule determining when benefits will arrive.
The SSA oversees several benefit programs. Retirement benefits make up the largest share of payments and are available to eligible workers aged 62 and older who have paid Social Security taxes during their working years. Survivor benefits are paid to eligible family members of deceased workers, including spouses and children.
This week, Social Security payments will be made on Wednesday, August 12, for beneficiaries with birthdays between the 1st and 10th of any month.
Beneficiaries whose payment does not arrive on its scheduled date are advised not to contact the SSA immediately and are advised to wait three working days before reporting a missing payment.
Although many beneficiaries receive their money according to their birth date, there are exceptions. People who started collecting Social Security before May 1997, along with those receiving both Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), were paid their August benefits earlier this month. Individual SSI payments were also made at the start of the month.
More payments will be made on the following dates throughout the month:
Social Security retirement benefits are not the same for every recipient, with monthly payments determined by factors including a worker’s earnings history, how long they worked and the age at which they start collecting benefits.
Workers generally need 40 Social Security credits to qualify for retirement benefits and can earn up to four credits each year. For most people, that means spending about 10 years in covered employment before becoming eligible.
The amount a retiree receives can differ significantly depending on when they claim. A worker who consistently earned at or above the Social Security taxable maximum and started collecting benefits in 2026 could receive about $4,152 a month at full retirement age. If they instead claimed at age 62, the maximum would fall to roughly $2,969, while waiting until age 70 could raise the monthly payment to around $5,181.
However, most retirees receive considerably less. In June 2026, the average monthly benefit paid to a retired worker stood at $2,084.40.
Congress is facing growing pressure to address Social Security’s financial problems after the latest projections showed its retirement trust fund could be depleted in late 2032. Without legislative action, incoming revenue would be sufficient to cover only about 78 percent of scheduled retirement benefits, effectively resulting in an across-the-board cut of around 22 percent.
A typical newly retired dual-income couple could see their annual Social Security income drop by nearly $17,000 beginning in 2033 if Congress does not address the program's longstanding financial shortfall, recent analysis by the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) found.
The approaching deadline has launched debate on Capitol Hill over how lawmakers should develop a long-term solution. Much of the recent debate has centered on the bipartisan PROMISE Act, which was discussed by the Senate Finance Committee last week.
That proposal would task the Social Security Advisory Board with developing legislation capable of keeping the program solvent for at least another 50 years and establish a process intended to ensure Congress considers and votes on the proposal.
Supporters have argued that a structured bipartisan process could break years of congressional gridlock, drawing comparisons with the commission that preceded the major Social Security reforms enacted in 1983.
However, it has also faced opposition over concerns that lawmakers could be pushed into making major changes to Social Security through an accelerated procedure, rather than through usual congressional processes. AARP, a leading advocacy group for the over-50s, has argued that any overhaul should instead proceed through a fully open congressional debate, warning against a process that could restrict scrutiny of potential benefit changes.
Social Security benefits are adjusted each year through the cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which is intended to help payments keep pace with rising prices.
The official 2027 COLA will not be announced until October, but current estimates indicate beneficiaries could receive a larger increase than the 2.8 percent adjustment applied this year. The COLA is calculated using Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures from the third quarter of the year.
The Senior Citizens League (TSCL) has projected a 3.9 percent COLA for 2027, which would take effect for benefits paid from January 2027.
TSCL Executive Director Shannon Benton said inflation, which has picked up this year owing to rising fuel and energy prices, continues to place pressure on American seniors .
“Many seniors are telling us the same thing: as inflation picks back up, life still does not feel affordable. The average senior already lives on much less than younger Americans, according to the Census Bureau, and our supporters constantly tell us they feel like they’re falling farther and farther behind," Benton said.
“For retirees living on fixed incomes, the costs that matter most, especially health care, housing, utilities, and insurance, continue to rise faster than prices in the rest of the economy, silently wrenching seniors dry," she continued. "This makes the national affordability conversation even more important than ...
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